I've lived here 35 years. Getting 10 to 20 inches of rain with high winds over several days is not unusual.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 28637798

I beg to differ - this is not something that happens every winter. And you know it.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1321115

They said it is "not unusual", they didn't say it happens every winter.

I live in Sacramento and we get wicked rain through here from time to time. This storm is not unusual. A few years ago we had so much rain the levees on the Sacramento river were only a few feet from overtopping. www.water.ca.gov/newsroom/docs/WeirsReliefStructures.pdf

My concern is that the levees could be sabotaged under cloak of "extreme rain". For years the State government has been nattering about the levee system and the possibility of flooding. They want federal dollars to rebuild it (i.e., California is broke and wants a handout from the feds.) The fact is, the levee on the west side of the river protects farmland and is the weaker of the two sides. So any "normal" levee break would flood farmlands, not the city. If the city side of the Sacramento River gets a levee break, I would consider that extremely suspicious.